Cotton Babies rocks!

You all may or may not have noticed that Siena has been in disposable diapers for a month or so now. I haven't made the switch back, I still love my cloth diapers. What happened was Siena started leaking urine through her diapers. At first it was occasionally but still very uncommon considering for almost a year I never had one leak with these diapers. Well the leaks got more frequent and started soaking though her clothes. Around the beginning of the year I had finally had enough and I called Cotton Babies (the makers of Bum Genius diapers) and inquired on why this would all of a sudden happen. I had stripped the diapers that weekend before calling, which is what they recommend you do for leaking issues. It didn't help. When I called to let them know that all 29 of the diapers I owned were leaking, it was suggested to me that I size the diapers a size smaller in hopes that maybe she was at an awkward growing phase and it wasn't a snug fit around her legs. So I made the diapers smaller. I also added in an extra insert to see if she just was peeing too much even though I knew that was false because Cole would sleep in the cloth diapers with two inserts all night and they never leaked.

The following weekend, this happened -

That's right, poop leaked through! So gross! And of course totally frustrating. I emailed customer service the picture and called them back again, explaining what happened and again, what I tried. Through talking we discovered that my washing machine (which has an internal water heater - way to go Bosch) has too high of a temperature setting on the extra sanitize wash. I had ruined all my cloth diapers with out even knowing I was doing it. I was so upset at this point because to replace those diapers would have cost close to $600.

Here comes the best part....even though it was my fault for the water proofing failure, they offered to replace all of the new diapers I could provide receipts for! 10 of the diapers are seconds so those have no warranty. I got receipts for the other 19 new ones and this past weekend they all arrived!!!! All I had to do was send in the leaking ones and once they received them. my new ones were on their way. Luckily I called when I did because my one year warranty was close to being up but again this was not something they normally covered.

How totally awesome is this company???? I have always loved these diapers and with their superior customer service I don't think any other cloth diaper company out there can compete with them!!!

Thank you Cotton Babies for keeping my kid in cloth diapers!!!!

A 6 month update on cloth diapering

6 months almost to the day, have gone by since we started cloth diapers. I can say 100% that I am totally happy with the decision to switch to cloth. We still have disposables for the day care (they go occasionally) and random trips but 98% of the time they are in cloth. The only blow outs we have had with Siena have been in disposables. Just the other day I had her in a disposable because I was stripping the diapers ( i do that once a month) and I went into the room to get a new diapers and when I came back she had some how wiggled around enough that the poop had shot up her back and into her hair. So gross!

The extra 2 minutes it takes to wash the diapers right after they come off the kids, before putting them in the laundry room really isn't noticeable any more. I am hang drying them so the extra power isn't being used and the dryer isn't heating up the house. The every other day of washing the diapers really doesn't bother me. They come out of the machine perfectly clean every time. I think the only part that gets us behind is the stuffing of the diapers. We decided to do it before hand that way they are ready to use at a moments notice rather than stuffing one when we need it. So some times that extra 5 minutes can make or break us.

The diapers have already paid for them selves and I would recommend to any one even thinking about cloth diapering to give it a chance.

When I see this...

It makes me wonder why the hell I thought cloth diapers were a good idea.  The kids were on a roll today and it's only 3 pm!  If a certain little one (Siena) would just take a nap, this situation would not have occurred. 

Cloth diapering Siena - Day 1

I still can't get over how dang cute these little diapers are.  I might like their cuteness more than saving the world...

Now that the disgusting snail shell is off and I gave her little belly button a day to dry up, I am attempting to cloth diaper Siena.  I plan to go through the day but put her back in regular diapers at night because I am not in the mood to wash poop off of a diaper at 2 am right now.  Maybe in a few weeks.

She seems to like them....  I will give an update in a few days.

The adventures of cloth diapers

We started yesterday with the cloth diapers and I am happy to say that after 2 days everything is going great!  Not that much extra work at all.  And to top it off when I go stick the dirty diaper in the bin I get this big smile knowing that I am not tossing money into the trash.  Cole does not seem to mind the diapers at all.  They are not too much bulkier than normal diaper except at night when I stuff it full to absorb 10 hours of pee.  Then he looks like he is carrying around a huge load in his pants.

Cole is also starting to let us know when he poops.  He doesn't necessarily run up and say "i pooped" but instead he ever so slightly announces "I sta" (I stink).  You have to be paying attention to realize he is letting you know about the upcoming smell to enter your nose.

Ridding the world of one poopy diaper at a time....

Things are going to be getting a little greener at the Fredy house.  In all my pregnancy "nesting" and "reorganizing" and after talking to a friend, I have decided that we will be switching to cloth diapers.  I wanted to do them with Cole but I did not want to go the route of diaper service.  It just seemed like a pain in the butt and in no way is it cost effective (I have compared prices) plus it is not that attractive looking.  (yes I do care what they look like).  A friend of ours introduced me to Bum Genius and I am stoked.

These diapers are one size fits all (7-35 pounds) with adjustable straps and Velcro. There are a lot of colors to choose from and they look great!

You have probably noticed that I have only been referring to me wanting to do this and have yet to mention "us" or Mike.  That is because Mike is not happy about my decision.  But because he is so wonderful and amazing he said "ok whatever you want to do".  I just have felt totally guilty about all the waste and the LARGE amount of diapers that get thrown away.  We wont be completely disposable diaper free because there are times when it is not going to be convenient to carry around poop filled diapers for a long period of time.  But with 2 children and 1 child that refuses to sit in a stroller or shopping cart - I wont be getting out of the house much for awhile so it will work for us.

stayed tuned for a bum fashion show staring Cole and his new diapers....